OPM breach affected far more individuals than previously reported

Office of Personnel Management’s security breach had affected up to 14 million citizens. Now, it looks like those numbers were vastly underestimated; allegedly up to a whopping 32 million former, current and prospective federal employees may have been affected, according to the latest numbers. Those numbers may also include those who enlisted — or attempted to enlist — in the military. This latest statistic was shared at a House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing at the beginning of July. At that hearing, former OPM Director Katherine Archuleta did not confirm how many people had actually been affected because it was still not clear exactly how many people’s information had been stolen. Between 2009 and 2014, the number of security-related incidents has more than doubled, according to testimony presented by Gregory Wilshusen, the Director of Information Security Issues for the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO). Over that time period, 27,624 security incidents were reported. “The danger posed by the wide array of cyber threats facing the nation is heightened by weaknesses in the federal government’s approach to protecting its systems and information,” Wilshusen said in his testimony.]]>